New Mombasa: The Soldier's War
by necaberint
Summary: My name is Private Icarus Secindius Perseus. I am part of the UNSC Army. I am in New Mombasa, fighting for my life. My only hope is to find my commander before he is overrun.
1. The road from Mogadishu

New Mombasa: the soldier's war

Summary: The story of a soldier during the Battle of New Mombasa.

Disclaimer: I assure you, completely, that I am not making any sort of monetary profit off of this. All I own is: Phalanx (Gears of War), Arctic Fugitives (Left 4 Dead), and the OC's in this fic.

Setting: The area in and around New Mombasa, Kenya during the time of the covenant invasion of Earth, taking place in the time space around Halo 2 and Halo 3.

Chapter 1: The road from Mogadishu

My name is Private Icharus Secundius Perseus, and I am a soldier in the human war against the covenant. I joined the Army four years ago. Not the Marines, not the Navy, the Army. I have never seen action before. Now I am traveling in the side seat of a warthog on the road from Mogadishu to New Mombasa. The army base back in Somalia got shut down due to lack of funding; command's pruning the vine to cut expenses from this war. In my platoon, we're all kind of pissed. We've been sitting around for as long as we can remember, hearing about the legendary exploits of the Spartan II supersoldiers, and the USMC. Most of us haven't ever seen a grunt up close, save for a few of the veterans here.

"Percy." said the gunner on my hog. He was straining to make out something in the sky.

"What?" I ask.

"Look up at the sky. Something's going on." I crane my neck. Above us, in the blue sky, there are explosions.

"Sarge, what's going on here?" asks a new recruit, his hands trembling with fear.

Our sergeant looks up at the sky and then orders: "Floor it; put the pedal to the metal; it's the covenant!" I grip the Battle Rifle in my lap.

Over the radio, our noncom, Lieutenant Tokke yells: "Driver: step on it! Get inside the city, move move move! Gunners, warm up those turrets! Passengers: lock and load; this is it!" We could see the megatropolis in the distance. We had to get out of the open where we were exposed. I pulled out my sidearm: an M6D pistol. I cock the hammer, but leave the safety on.

The battle above draws closer, we zoom towards the city. The gunners unlock their turrets, spinning around a couple times to get the platform working. They all look towards the sky expectantly. The man on my turret: Corporal Greg, points the mounted rocket launcher up at the sky. I load the grenade launcher underslung from my rifle.

The city is so close now; I can made out the individual buildings on the outskirts, when suddenly, blue plasma strafes the highway. My driver, PFC Cinders startles, nearly darting off course. I put my hand on his shoulder: "You're going to make it; keep on course." he swallows, and holds the wheel with gritty determination. Behind me, I hear the rocket turret go off.

"Take that, you bastards!" yells Greg. His missile hits an approaching banshee, destroying the craft. It falls shrouded by blue flames.

"There's more of em'!" shouts Tokke. The rest of the convoys mounted guns open fire into a group of oncoming banshees, decimating the group. Suddenly, a green orb flies from a banshee, and strikes the hog next to us, killing everyone.

I hold my fire, scared. I can't get a shot on the flyers. Into my helmet radio, I yell: "Passengers, watch the surroundings!" Just as I finish saying this, I turn to my right. I see elites on ghosts face to face. "Ghosts to the right!" I yell. The training took over. The elite in red armor is closing quickly, but he won't make it. I raise my BR, aiming down the sights. I squeeze the grenade launcher button, waiting for him to come a little closer. At a hundred meters away, I fire my grenade. The explosive projectile zooms through the air, hitting the ghost on the side, exploding something. The elite dies in the blast. Undeterred, his fellows charge us.

Quickly, I try to reload my grenade launcher. Tokke orders four warthog gunners to fire into the ghosts. They're coming too fast. I let off another grenade, which struck an elite in the head, turning him into a bloody mess. We're at the outskirts of the city now. Suddenly, a purple aircraft appears flying out from the city. Over the city, there are covenant ships, their gravity lifts deployed.

The purple dropship, identified as a "phantom" let fly a hail of plasma at us from a turret underneath its nose, and from two shade turrets on its sides. Tokke's gunner opens fire with his gauss cannon. Greg fires his rockets at the armored hull. Something drops from its underside. "Wraith!" shouts Tokke. Cinders swerves to avoid the wraith blocking the highway, and Greg destroys it with his rockets. ahead of us, stand three pairs of hunters. The hulking aliens charge their cannon, and fire.

The green projectiles impact our convoy, and suddenly, the air is filled with the clicks of flying insects; drones. Cinders rammed through a hunter, and I blasted his partner in a gap in his armor with another grenade. He still stands, and fires on us. The shot darts across the gap. "Bail out!" I shout. Cinders skids the tires, flipping the hog, and Greg flew from the turret. I leapt out of the hog, and rolled upon slamming into the ground. I scraped along the dirt and gravel, and pulled myself to my feet, sporting a burgeoning headache. The hunter came at me. I reloaded my grenade launcher, and turned off my rifle's safety.

Trembling, I return fire at the drones, blasting them out of the sky. I reload my magazine, and face my enemy, scared speechless. The alien monstrosity advanced upon me, hiding behind his shield. The cannon flashed, I tensed. The blast issues out of the cannon, and I dive out of the way, flat on my face. I look around quickly. I'm alone; everyone else is dead or in the city. I head the hunter roar, and rolled onto my back. The hunter slams his foot down; I roll aside, firing my rifle at him. A bullet strikes him in the neck, only enraging him. I circle to his left, trying to access the weak spot of his back. I get around to his back. At that very moment, he swings his shield at me, only missing by fractions of a second. I run, trying to get away from the armored death machine.

I pull away from him, and turn back to face him. I fire my rifle, finding gaps in the armor. Another blast flies from his cannon. The explosion throws me up in the air, uncoordinated. Time seems to drag, and I try to steady my grenade launcher. In slow motion, I aim down my rifle's iron sights at the hunter's neck. I yank the launch button, and the grenade impacts the alien where the neck met the head, decapitating it and strewing orange blood all over the ground. My enemy drops dead, and I land on the ground, hard.

I taste salty blood in my tongue, and rise to my feet. All around me is desolation. The six hunters are dead, however, the convoy had been decimated. We had come in a convoy of ten warthogs; seven had been for protection, and three were for transporting soldiers. I survey the carnage, and count eight destroyed warthogs. Two of the transports and six of the gun trucks are flaming ruins, and two sets of tire tracks lead to the city.

I weight my options, tired and nervous. I see that I can't stay here, be killed by the covenant. I can't go back to Mogadishu; I lack the provisions. I have to go into New Mombasa. I turn to face the city and begin walking the three miles to the outskirts, following the tire tracks.

An hour later, I arrive in New Mombasa. All around me, civilians run and panic, trying desperately to escape the city. A man accosts me and demands: "My son, have you seen my son? I lost him in the inner city!"

I hesitate, then answer him in my most level voice: "No, I haven't. I just got here a minute ago. I'm with the army, and I need to know: where's the enemy, and where's the battle?"

"Where's the battle?" raged the man. "It's over behind me. I don't want to know where the enemy is. I'm getting hell out of here, and if you don't want to die, you'd better follow me!" I slip away from him, and fight through the thick crowds, heading towards a fire escape. I jump and grab the ladder, then pull myself up. I quickly run up the stairs, and onto the roof, and was shocked by the view.

Before me, is desolation. The great bridge to the inner city is a battlefield. On it, I see people running for their lives from the murderous rush of the covenant. Behind a wall of sandbags, a few valiant people armed with whatever guns they could find are trying to hold back the covenant onslaught. With them are a few marines, and a gauss warthog. With a flash I realize that Tokke survived, and that the wise thing to do would be to regroup.

Quickly, I descend the building, back into the streets. I then realize that I've never been to New Mombasa before. I continued, now in eerie silence. The mob is gone, but the destruction and chaos remains. Many buildings are burning, but I heard a noise, and then my troubles grew worse.

I heard a jackal sniff around, and I froze, hiding behind a ruined bus stop. The creature gave one of its weird sounds, and I heard a most unwelcome voice: "Come out, human, and your end will be quick." I reach down and pull out my pistol, turning the safety off. I stoop to ground level and pick up a broken beer bottle by the neck.

I challenge back: "I've got a gun, and a knife. Tell me: which one should I kill you with?" I don't feel anywhere nearly as confident as I sound, but I can't let him know how truly afraid I am.

"You will pay for your insolence." he grolws, and the jackal, carrying a sniper rifle pokes his head around the corner. I raise my left hand, and fire my pistol into the alien's head, sending him down instantly. The elite roars with fury, and bursts around the corner, energy sword in hand.

Instantly, I open fire, shooting him indiscriminately, desperately trying to break his shields. With a flash, they break, and I lunge with my knife. The elite's sword came down in a flash. Twisting to avert it, the blade slashes my arm, but I close the distance before he can stop me. Before he could even raise his arm to protect himself, I stab into his neck, releasing a pained roar from him. Mercilessly, I strike again, shoving the glass into the gap between his chest plates, piercing the skin. I slam my full weight into his body, knocking him to the ground, and I level my pistol, finishing him with a bullet through his heart.

The adrenalin exits my blood, and I feel a pain in my left arm. I look at it in shock. The whole length of the limb, the sword had opened a huge, shallow gash running from shoulder to knuckles. I'm losing a lot of blood; already, a small pool of blood has formed around me. I know that I only have minutes left before I bleed out, and limp into a deserted shop, seeking bandages. I look around the interior. I've stumbled into a clothing store.

immediately, I pull a shirt off its rack., and wrap it around my wound, then I take another shirt and tear it into strips, and lash it tightly to my arm. I check my ammo counts. I have another magazine left of Battle Rifle, and one of pistol. I waited for half an hour before moving again. My left side was stained with blood, and I loosen my tourniquet slightly, feeling the warm blood seep back into my numb, tingling arm. I suppress the feeling and leave the store. There are no more covenant nearby fortunately.

I wander the block for fifteen minutes until I found a store with a gun in the window. I walked around and entered through the back. I took a look around the interior. It was either a pawn shop, or antique dealership. Either way, I can't really tell, but I don't really care; I'm just after some weapons. I approach the window and grab the rifle. It's an old lever action 1873 Winchester. I search around for ammunition and find a grand total of 200 rounds of it. I then look for a replacement for my pistol. I look around for another weapon, and had nearly given up all hope when I opened a cabinet and found an MP-5 with an abundance of magazines filled with ammunition. Lastly, I took a morning star from the back room and exited by the front door. "This will ruin something's day." I mumble to myself.

I approach the bridge, and I can still hear gunfire. I pull out my Winchesters, raising and lowering it a few times to get the feel of the weapon. The gunfire is louder now, with the sound of Tokke's gauss cannon plainly audible. I steady my frayed nerves and then dive behind a parked van, the plasma bolts whizzing by my head.


	2. Holdout at Mandela Bridge

New Mombasa: The Soldier's War

Chapter 2: Holdout at Mandela Bridge

I hold my Winchester rifle and press my back against the van. I lean out, raising it to my shoulder. I aim down the sights; the battle raging around me fades. I see my target: a jackal sniper on a suspension tower. I aim; my barrel pointed straight into his eye. I squeeze the trigger, and the gun fires. My bullet zooms across the sky, shattering his skull, knocking him from his perch.

Suddenly, time rushed at a hectic pace. I panic and duck behind my cover and work the lever. gunfire pounding all around me. I dive into enemy fire. My heart pounds. I forget my fear; the thrill of battle overtakes me. I fire my rifle into the advancing covenant, killing many. A bullet from my Winchester strikes an elite. The alien is stunned. I shoot him again, and the fiend charges me. Again, I shoot him, but his shields hold.

The elite is now only feet away from me, and brandishes his energy sword. I hurriedly drop me gun, readying my morning star. The monster lunges, I sidestep him. His orange eye locks to mine. I hesitate, winding up. Then, I swing. The mace slams into his back, knocking him over, and his shields break. I raise my weapon over my head, and bring it crashing down on his head, the spikes punching through his armor and crushing his skull. Blood leaks from his head.

Relieved, I pick my rifle back up and open fire. I send three shots into the enemy, killing a trio of grunts. I cock the weapon and pull the trigger; nothing happens. I dive back behind my van, and reload my Winchester, hands shaking in fear. I load the last round, but I lay my rifle down. I draw out my MP-5, face the enemy, and pull the trigger. The sub machinegun spouts a burst of fire, slaying a pack of grunt. I aim towards a cluster of shielded jackals and pull the trigger. The rounds fly through the gaps in their shielding, striking the vulnerable flesh. Twisting in pain, they expose themselves, and I quell them with a second burst. I hear someone shout: I can't believe it; they're retreating!" The gunfire trails off, gradually ceasing entirely.

Shaking, lower my MP-5 and walk over to Tokke. He's dismounted the gauss cannon. He catches sight of me and demands: "Where are Cinders and Greg?"

"I don't know, sir. We were flipped by a hunter. I do not know what happened to Cinders, but I know that Greg was thrown from the warthog; He's dead, sir. I don't know about Cinders, sir; I never saw his body, and he never responded to my calls. I would place his status as MIA, and Greg as KIA."

"And the rest of the convoy?" he asked.

"Destroyed, sir." I answered. "The only warthogs to escape were yours and a transport. I walked after mine was destroyed." His face lit up hopefully for a moment.

"Which transport hog made, Private?"

"I believe that it was the one carrying our VIP."

Tokke responded to this. "Here are your new orders, Private: You will search the city for our VIP, Major John Eather. He is most likely in the old city somewhere. You are to find his and get him evacuated to safety. Once you find him, you will guard him with your life. If you are separated along the way, search for him. Only abandon the search if you confirm that he is dead. If he is dead, then you will contact me immediately, and call for pelican evacuation. His cybernetic implants contain vital information and must not fall into enemy hands. Do you understand, Private?"

"Sir, yes sir!" I shout.

"Get a move on." orders Tokke. I pick back up my Winchester, and I hear the hum of phantom engines above me. I look at Tokke: "Hold em' off!" he yells. I cock the rifle and wait for the enemy to appear, my pulse pounding. I hear the quips of grunts and raise my gun to my shoulder.

The first grunt pokes his head around the van. I fire, hitting him in the head and ready the next round. Another one takes his place; I kill him instantly. Then, my pulse skyrockets. A pack of four elites; three blue and one red face me. Quick as a flash, I grab my MP-5 and we trade fire. The rounds bounce against their shields, but the lead blue's break.

I notice something: plasma grenades. Immediately, I fire upon the blue explosives. A bullet from my weapon strikes in the middle of them, detonating them. A massive blue explosion consumes the elites. The nearest blues die immediately. A third blue loses his shields, but the red is fine. I finish of the unshielded elite with a burst of lead. The other opens up on me.

I duck behind the van, avoiding the lethal plasma bolts. I'm scared out of my mind, but I suppress my fear the best I can. I duck out from behind my cover, and pull the trigger. A single bullet flies from my weapon, and then I hear the click of an empty magazine.

I panic. The elite seizes the advantage, and rushes me. I grab my Winchester, trembling. I point the gun at him and I fire. The bullet strikes his weakened shields, breaking them, but I'm too slow. He rams his plasma rifle into my guts, sending me sprawling to the ground. Desperately, I lift up my gun. I cycle the action. He brings his arm hurtling downwards to finish me off. I jab the barrel of my Winchester into his stomach, and fire.

The elite falls dead, and collapses on top of me. Its bulk presses me too hard. I wriggle out from under it, and dust myself off. In daze, I reload my guns and ready them for action. I emerge from behind my van, and I see four specters loaded with elites charging our way. The civilians with us panic and run. Tokke yells: "Incoming specters!" The Marines reload and prepare their frag grenades. I heard Tokke fire his turret, and the ensuing explosion of a destroyed specter.

He leaps from his turret, and cocks his sniper rifle. Then, three specters fly over our heads. The marines pull the grenade pins and hurl them at the vehicles. The third specter took the blasts, and exploded instantly. From the other two specters, blue plasma flew from their turrets. Immediately, six elites dismounted. Disoriented, I open fire with my Winchester. To my right, I see a marine covered in purple needles. He leaps at the elites, and explodes in a purple and red cloud, taking the gunner with him. I cycle the action and quickly kill the three remaining elites with bullets to their brains,

I look to the other specter, and I see that they've pinned down the other Marines, killing three out of the five. I seize my mace and charge the gunner. The head slams into his skull, breaking his neck and pressing a dent into the helmet. He crumples at my feet, and I proclaim: "The gunner is dead!"

Immediately, my comrades emerge from cover and open fire. It was over within a second, with the last elite falling to the pavement oozing purple blood. Tokke calls out: "Status report!"

The marines answer: "We're down to six, sir."

"I'm fine, sir, but shaken." I reply.

"Listen up!" announces Tokke. "You Marines come with me. We're going into the city. Private, search the old city for the VIP; consider my instructions to you standing orders!"

We all hail him: "Sir, yes sir!"

""Move out." he commands. The Marines follow him in a wedge shaped formation. I reload my weapons and clean my mace; it was covered in purple blood. I then turn to the old city behind me, and walk into it.

The city is vacant now. I think back on my training, and I remember a drill instructor shouting at us: "Whenever possible, always get to high ground!" I knew what my next course of action was: I had to get to higher ground. I searched for a tall building, and luckily, I found what I was looking for.

The structure stood at 600 feet tall. It was a lookout tower for tourists, but I wasn't fussing about that. It was even a bonus; I would have a panoramic view from the top, plus probably a map and some more information about the city.

I entered the darkened lobby. Luckily, it was deserted. The place was a mess from the crowds fleeing from the covenant, but I didn't blame them; if I wasn't a soldier, I'd be running too. I pressed the elevator button. Fortunately, the covenant hadn't yet hit the electrical grid. The elevator arrived with its usually ding and I got on it and hit the up button. A minute later, I stood at the top of the round observation deck. I could see everything for miles around me. I looked more closely, and I did not like what I saw.

Scattered around the city were six covenant cruisers surrounding a massive assault carrier, but that wasn't my biggest problem. Approaching my position was a small convoy of shadow troop carriers. Desperately, I look for support: "This is Private Icharus Secundius Perseus. I see multiple contacts; shadow troop carriers. They are approaching my position. Requesting artillery support. "

A voice crackles over the radio: "Roger Private Perseus, this is Rhino 4-2. What can I do you for?"

"Thank you so much for responding!" I reply with elation." I see a convoy of six shadow troop transports approaching the lookout tower from the direction of the new city. Use a security cam to get your bead on them." The radio went dark for a few seconds, then 4-2 responded.

"Target acquired! I am charging the plasma cannon."

"Make it quick; they're almost here!"

"Ready! I'm a-firin' ma lazor!" A beam of blue light cuts through the sky and smashes into the lead shadow, destroying it.

"Hit five more!"

"Firing!" the shots fly through the air and kill the APC's.

"That's two!" I shout. "That's three! That's four! That's five! That's six!" I breathe hevily. "Excellent work, Rhino 4-2. That's a lot of blarg-blargs that won't be bothering anyone!"

"The pleasure's all mine. Kick some ass, Perseus!"

"Wilco." I say and exit radio contact. I momentarily consider broadcasting a radio transmission and seek out the Major that way, but I think better of it; the covenant would instantly home in on my location, and if the Major replied, they'd go after him. I see now that my options are limited. I'm not getting any help on this one. It's going to take logic and cunning to find him.

I scout around the skyline for other high buildings. Mostly, they are on the new city island, with only few in the old city on the mainland. A certain skyscraper captures my attention. It is a massive six-hundred foot tall communications building, and even better, on top of it is a commercial radio transmitter. I walk around the deck once more, taking in a final mental image of the skyline before descending to the streets.

Suddenly, I hear the elevator ding and open. Noiselessly, I raise my rifle to my shoulder and cautiously aimed towards the elevator. My arms tremble in fear, even though I have already survived several such encounters today. I hear nothing, and creep around towards the elevator. I see something shivering in the air moving towards me. I hesitate, then my eyes catch the ghostly glow of blue plasma.

I turn away, pretending not to notice. I see the figure crouching only a yard away; almost in range. I gaze absentmindedly into space. The elite is just a foot away from me now. I stifle my tremors, barely maintaining an unconcerned expression. I change my right hand's grip on the Winchester, wrapping my thumb around the barrel. I tense up, pretending to yawn, and then, I strike.

I whirled around, bringing my rifle but into the back of his skull, feeling his body give way with a mighty snap. Then, I see something on the floor next to his: a sword hilt. I lean down and with a curious expression on my face, pick it up and gripped it like that elite at the bus stop had. I squeeze the hilt, and with a hiss of gasses and the force of a 20 gauge shotgun, the pincerlike, cyan blue blade forms. I search the room for the elite's brethren.

I cock my MP-5, and with my left hand, I rake the room with fire. Three elite energy shields crackle in response. The first elite tried to escape the hail of bullets, but in vain. I gunned him down while the other two rush me. I take the sword in my right hand and ram into the lead alien. The cyan blade bursts through his chest and burble blood spews from the wounds. With a roar, the third elite draws his own sword. I step back, remembering my last fight with a sword.

I back away, trying to find a way out. I feel the cold press of my armor into glass. I know there's no way out. A cold determination grips me; it's me or him, and I won't let it be me. "Agie," I taunt. "Occide me, si dares." With a blood-shaking roar, the elite charges.

I step forwards, and swing my sword up. The blades clash. Sensing my weakness, the elite presses his blade down on mine. He's too strong; I pull back. We trade blows. Despite his overpowering might, I'm quicker, fighting him to a standstill, defying his power and experience. The alien outmatches me, and I feel the glass at my back.

The elite is staring me down. There's no escape. Desperately, a crazy idea leaps to my mind. It's the only option left to me. I challenge him defiantly: "Cut me down. Prove your courage, grow your honor. All it takes is one good strike. However, you haven't killed me yet. How could such a mighty warrior like yourself not kill one puny, weak, alone, helpless, frightened human? Maybe you're a sadist, delighting in the slow, painful kill. Maybe you're just toying with me. Maybe you're a coward? "

"Pathetic human, I will kill you where you stand!"

I'm struggling to maintain my composure, but I throw a last, brave taunt before my courage fails me: "Come get me." The elite roars in rage, and runs for me at full speed. I pale in fear. I'm too afraid; I can't move. Desperately, I force muscles to act. I crouch down to me knees, bending over, and I ready my energy sword.

The elite thundered closer. With all my remaining strength, I dart headlong into him, and uncoil my body. I hit him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. My sword rends through his flesh, covering me in hot purple blood. His immensely, heavy, alien body flips over my back, and crashes through the window. I hear his outraged roar fall away, until, abruptly, it stops.

Shaken and exhausted, I looked over behind me. There was a huge chunk shattered out of the glass wall. I peek over the edge, and see my foe's crushed form in the street below, a dark purple and blue smear on the pavement. I feel a stab of pity and revulsion. Pity, because he should have so easily slain me, but I had killed him. Revulsion, because his innards had burst out, leaving a huge messy stain on the ground.

I think back on Tokke's orders through my battle-shaken mind. It had only been half an hour since he had sent me to find Major Eather. To me though, it felt as if I had heard them a lifetime away. I let the truth sink into my mind, while I gaze at the war torn city, battles still raging inside. With a new, harder determination, I stand up and cast aside my energy sword. I collect my Winchester from the floor and step into the elevator. I reload my weapons, and then cock my rifle. I finally press the down button and the elevator closed shut.


End file.
